Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 120.djvu/2254

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall carry out such programs and activities to augment and support the programs and activities of the military departments for the provision of assistance to severely wounded or injured servicemembers and their families as the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments and the heads of other appropriate departments and agencies of the Federal Government (including the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs), determines appropriate. (2) DATABASE.—The activities of the Center under this subsection shall include the establishment and maintenance of a central database. The database shall be transparent and shall be accessible for use by all of the programs of the military departments referred to in subsection (c). (e) RESOURCES.—The Secretary of Defense shall allocate to the Center such personnel and other resources as the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military departments, considers appropriate in order to permit the Center to carry out effectively the programs and activities assigned to the Center under subsection (d). SEC. 565. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON PROCEDURES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ON MORTUARY AFFAIRS.

(a) REPORT.—As soon as practicable after the completion of a comprehensive review of the procedures of the Department of Defense on mortuary affairs, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report on the review. (b) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—In conducting the comprehensive review described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall address, in addition to any other matter covered by the review, the following: (1) The use of additional or increased refrigeration (including icing) in combat theaters in order to enhance preservation of remains. (2) The location of refrigeration assets further forward in the field. (3) Specific time standards for the movement of remains from combat units. (4) The forward location of autopsy and embalming operations. (5) Any other matter that the Secretary considers appropriate in order to expedite the return of remains to the United States in a nondecomposed state. SEC. 566. ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS OF POLICY ON CASUALTY ASSISTANCE TO SURVIVORS OF MILITARY DECEDENTS.

Section 562(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (Public Law 109–163; 119 Stat. 3267; 10 U.S.C. 1475 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ‘‘(12) The process by which the Department of Defense, upon request, provides information (in person and otherwise) to survivors of a military decedent on the cause of, and any investigation into, the death of such military decedent and on the disposition and transportation of the remains of such decedent, which process shall—